{"id":555,"date":"2020-02-11T14:04:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T06:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentrons.com.cn\/?post_type=case&p=555"},"modified":"2023-12-25T14:36:37","modified_gmt":"2023-12-25T06:36:37","slug":"opentrons-user-interview-with-arianna-morosetti-of-university-of-calgary","status":"publish","type":"case","link":"https:\/\/en.opentrons.com.cn\/resources\/customer-stories\/opentrons-user-interview-with-arianna-morosetti-of-university-of-calgary\/","title":{"rendered":"Customer Interview | University of Calgary Arianna postdoctoral researcher uses OT-2 to run magnetic bead cleaning automation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
University of Calgary<\/a> is one of Canada's top universities. Arianna Morosetti<\/a> is a molecular biologist. Studying drug resistance in parasitic nematodes in the Gilleard Laboratory<\/a> at the University of Calgary. The laboratory purchased its first Opentrons OT-2 in March 2019 and hopes to add another one specifically for PCR applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arianna Morosetti pictured with their OT-2 at the Gilleard Laboratory at the University of Calgary. Photo credit: Arianna Morosetti<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opentrons: Please introduce your research background<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ARIANNA MOROSETTI:<\/strong> I am a molecular biologist employed as a postdoctoral researcher in the Gilleard Laboratory at the University of Calgary. I work in a large research group. The members of our group have different research backgrounds. Some are working in bioinformatics, some are new to this academic field, and some have never touched a pipette. But we finally succeeded in giving everyone the ability to do molecular biology experiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to this role, I had been in the corporate world, so I knew what was going on in terms of laboratory automation. In my role at the University of Calgary, I use the OT-2 to validate new protocols and streamline our standard procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opentrons: What is your research project? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AM:<\/strong> I work on amplicon sequencing. We use molecular genetics and genomics approaches to study parasitic nematodes that harbor a large number of important pathogens. A core project of our laboratory is to study resistance to anthelmintic drugs and to study the generation and spread of potentially causal mutations in parasitic nematode populations. Our goals are to improve diagnostics, identify new control targets and provide an evidence base for the sustainable management of drug resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opentrons: What is your daily work like in the laboratory? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AM:<\/strong> Our protocol for amplification sequencing has many established elements within a very specific workflow. We went through a more complex PCR setup: sometimes we used 4 well plates with 96 samples, using 96 unique primer combinations. Handling such work manually is very troublesome and time-consuming, so we hand over these manual processes to the OT-2 pipetting robot <\/a>Execute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opentrons: Why did you choose OT-2? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n AM:<\/strong> We already have a device from another brand in our lab and we considered using it, but we didn't use it much and the company was slow to respond to support requests. We also need to purchase an additional magnetic module to implement our scheme. Since we work separately in the PCR pre-room and PCR post-room, this means we will have to purchase a new robot and magnetic module, which will incur high costs. Opentrons OT-2 and magnetic modules are affordable and cost-effective, and can meet the experimental functions we need. This is an important reason why we finally chose OT-2 after comparing multiple products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n